The Gospel as Recorded by St. John
The Raising of Lazarus
Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha, was ill [and she was the Mary who bathed the Lord with perfume, wiping His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill]. The sisters, therefore, sent to Him, saying, “Master, Your very dear friend is now ill.”
Jesus, on hearing it, however, remarked:
“This illness is not for death; but, on the contrary, for rectification from God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Jesus had a friendship with Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. Yet, when He heard that he was sick, He still remained two days at the place in which he was; but after that He said to His disciples, “Let us return again to Judea.”
“Teacher!” exclaimed His disciples, “the Judeans were just now attempting to stone You; and are You going there again?”
“There are twelve hours in the day, are there not?” replied Jesus. “If any one walks in the day, he will not stumble, because he has the light of this world; but if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not with him.”
Having said this, He added: “Lazarus, our friend, slumbers; but I am going that I may arouse him.”
“If he sleeps, Master,” the disciples therefore said to Him, “he will be restored.”
Jesus, however, referred to his death; but they supposed that He was speaking of refreshing sleep.
Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died; and for your sakes I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. However, let us go to him.”
Thomas, known as the Twin, therefore said to his fellow-disciples: “Let us go as well, so that we may die with Him.”
So, when Jesus arrived, He found that he had already been four days in the tomb. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles distant; so many from among the Judeans had come to console Martha and Mary concerning their brother. Martha, however, when she learned that Jesus was coming, went and met Him; but Mary remained in the house. Martha then said to Jesus:
“Master, had You been here, my brother would not have died; but even now I know that whatever You may ask from God, God will grant You.”
“Your brother shall rise again,” Jesus remarked to her.
“I know,” responded Martha, “that he will rise at the resurrection of the last day.”
Jesus answered her: “I am the Resurrection and the Life; whoever believes on Me, although he may die, he will live; and everyone living and believing in Me shall not die for ever. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Master,” was her reply; “I have believed that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One coming to the world.”
And having said this, she returned, and told Mary, her sister, privately: “The Teacher stands near, and calls you.”
On hearing this, she at once got up, and came to Him. Now Jesus had not as yet entered the village; but was at the spot where Martha met Him. The Judeans then who were in her company, consoling her in the house, noticing the haste with which Mary got up and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to grieve there. Then when Mary came to where Jesus was, she fell at His feet on seeing Him, and exclaimed: “Master, had You been here, my brother would not have died!”
When Jesus then saw her grieving, and the Judeans who accompanied her grieving, He was Himself sad and disturbed in spirit; and asked,
“Where have you laid him?”
“Master, come and see,” was their reply.
Jesus wept.
The Judeans then remarked: “See how fondly He loved him!”
But some of them said: “Could not He, Who opened the eyes of the blind, also have arranged that this man should not die?”
Jesus, therefore, again sighing in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, closed up at the entrance with a stone.
“Remove the stone,” said Jesus.
Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him: “Master, by this time the smell must be offensive; for this is the fourth day.”
“Did I not tell you,” replied Jesus, “that if you would believe, you should see the majesty of God?”
They accordingly removed the stone; when Jesus, looking upward, said:
“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. As for Myself, I know that You listen to Me at all times; but I am speaking for the sake of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that You have sent Me.”
And having said this, He called with a loud voice: “Lazarus, come out!”
He who was dead accordingly came out, swathed hand and foot with bandages, and his head wrapped up in a napkin. Jesus then told them, “loosen and let him walk.”
Many, therefore, of the Judeans who had come to Mary and witnessed what He had done, believed in Him. But some from among them repaired to the Pharisees, and reported to them what Jesus had done.
The Sanhedrim in Conference
The priests and Pharisees accordingly convened a meeting of the Senate, and said: “What shall we do? Because this Man produces many evidences. If we should leave Him as He is, all will believe on Him; and the Romans will come and take from us this place and the nation.”
But one of themselves, Caiaphas who was the High Priest for that particular year, told them:
“You know nothing at all; nor do you reflect that it is expedient for you that one man should die for the sake of the people, rather than that the whole nation should perish!”
A Comment by the Evangelist
Now he did not say this from himself; but being High Priest that year, he foretold that Jesus would be put to death on behalf of the nation [and not for the nation alone, but in order that the scattered children of God might be gathered into one]. From that day they accordingly plotted in what way they could effect His murder. For this reason Jesus appeared no longer publicly among the Judeans; but retired to the country near the desert, to a village called Ephraim; and He continued there along with His disciples.
Fifth Visit to Jerusalem
The Jewish Passover was approaching; and many went up to Jerusalem from that part, prior to the Passover, in order that they might purify themselves. They therefore searched for Jesus; and, while standing in the temple, they remarked to each other, “What do you think? Will He not come to the festival?” The chief priests and the Pharisees, however, had issued instructions that if any one was acquainted with His whereabouts, he should report it, in order that they might arrest Him.
Transcribed by JT Atkinson on 02-20-2015
